Marvin Fong, The Plain DealerAttorneys for former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora are the father-daughter team of William Whitaker and Andrea Whitaker.

AKRON, Ohio – Jimmy Dimora's defense attorney slipped up at the end of his closing argument this afternoon, saying he expected the jury to come back with a "guilty" verdict on all counts.

"I think you will be returning a verdict of 'guilty' on each and every one of these counts,” William Whitaker said.

As he walked away from the jury box, his legal team corrected him, so Whitaker walked back up to the jury and said, "I mean 'not guilty.' "

Live trial coverage

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Background on the trial

William Whitaker, who along with his daughter Andrea is representing the
former Cuyahoga County commissioner in his federal racketeering trial,
had tried earlier in his argument to discredit one of the prosecution's
key witnesses, former associate J. Kevin Kelley. Whitaker said jurors should discredit Kelley's testimony because he was not a credible witness.

Kelley, a former county employee and former Parma school board member, had testified over parts of four days against Dimora earlier in the trial. Kelley was the first public official to plead guilty in a broad county corruption investigation and will likely serve six years in prison.

Essentially, Kelley testified that he was a middleman of sorts in several bribery schemes where he peddled county and school board contracts and jobs.

But Whitaker also talked about various schemes, showing jurors a digital chart that displayed kickbacks and bribes that Kelley had taken. Whitaker also said Kelley testified as a means to shave time off his prison sentence. He also said Kelley didn't always pay for meals for Dimora.

The charges against Dimora are found in a 36-count, 148-page
federal indictment, alleging that he used his county commissioner's office as the base to run a criminal enterprise. Dimora is on trial along with a co-defendant, Michael Gabor, 52, of
Parma, a former office assistant in the auditor's office. Gabor is accused of bribery and conspiracy, including a charge that he tried to pay a judge $10,000 to fix his divorce case.